Amazing Women Who Changed China

Dr Shirley Ye is a historian at the University of Birmingham specialising in the history and cultures of China. On Sunday 26th April, she's travelling to Birmingham to deliver a talk for BYO's young people on gender and women in China.

From a warrior who disguised herself as a man to fight in her father's place, to the only woman ever to rule China as Emperor, to a revolutionary who left everything behind to fight for women's freedom — Chinese history is full of extraordinary women whose stories are rarely told outside China. This talk brings some of them to life for young people and their families, spanning two thousand years of history, legend, and culture. We'll meet rebels and revolutionaries, singers whose music crossed borders that politics could not, artists who asked uncomfortable questions, and communities of women who invented their own secret writing system rather than be silenced. The talk weaves together myth, biography, and history to explore a simple but powerful idea: that women have always found ways to shape the world around them, even when the world told them they couldn't. Expect stories, surprises, and a few questions worth taking home.

Christ Church, Burney Lane. Time to be confirmed – check back for updates.